


Vita Supernaturalis

by rexthranduil



Category: Supernatural, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Charles still has his telepathy, Demons, Did I mention he's a demon?, Erik has anger issues, M/M, Rape/non con elements, Shaw is a demon, Shaw is an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 13:10:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7223593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexthranduil/pseuds/rexthranduil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik Lehnsherr is a hunter after the Demon that murdered his mother when he was a baby. Charles Xavier is a professor of the occult who is hunting for answers about his abilities. Shaw is the one common factor in their lives... Supernatural!AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vita Supernaturalis

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written as a response to a kink on Livejournal. It took my three days to write and I've only just decided to post it on here as well.  
> I'll clean it up at a later date, but right now, enjoy.

_**November 1985:** _

 

It was late. Nearly the witching hour in fact and Eleora cursed silently as she realised she'd left the window open in the baby's room. You'd think that after six months of being a mother, an immensely rapid learning-curve for her, she'd remember to do something as simple as close a damned window. But she was tired and little Erik had kept her up most of last night, teething still.

Groaning in frustration and exasperation, Eleora quietly made her way along the hallway between the master bedroom and Erik's room, not bothering with the lights as she knew the layout like the back of her hand. Though, that didn't stop her tripping up on Jakob's damned work-boots he'd left by the bathroom door.

At the age of twenty-nine, Eleora Eisenhardt was happily married to Jakob Eisenhardt, aged thirty-one. Most of the women she knew had scoffed and laughed at her choice of a husband, but Eleora loved her man and knew that, unlike those bitches she saw down at the mini-mart, she wouldn't have to go looking elsewhere for love ten years down the line when her youthful face became marred by time. None of them could say the same. If they weren't such bitches to her, Eleora might even pity them, but honestly, they deserved every slap in the face that fate decided to prescribe them. Especially Jeannie.

Trying to staunch the yawn rising in her throat, Eleora silently entered her son's room and frowned as she spied the window she _thought_ she'd left open, _'Huh, what the-'_. Cautiously, Eleora padded towards the shut window, making sure her ears were alert for any sounds other than her own breathing and that of her son's. Standing next to the window, Eleora squinted down at the window ledge, noticing that something was scattered upon it, like dust. Quickly swiping a finger through the strange dust-like substance, she held her hand aloft in front of her face and, with the dim light of the street lamp outside shining through the window, she stared in horrified realisation at the substance.

Sulphur.

Whirling around Eleora fingered the charm bracelet on her hand, silently muttering every prayer and spell of protection in her repertoire as she hurried over to Erik's cot. She peered down into it and felt relief as she realised her son was safe and soundly asleep. _'Thank God for small mercies'_ , she thought as she slowly looked around the room, her eyes searching for something, _anything_ that wasn't meant to be there. She needed to call Jakob. She needed to get Erik out of the house. She needed to get the shotgun she'd stupidly left beneath her bed. She needed to _keep Erik_ _safe_.

But just because she _needed_ to, didn't mean she _could_ do.

Letting out a surprised cry, Eleora found herself flying backwards away from Erik's cot. Her thin body collided painfully with the hard, wooden flooring and she lay sprawled out for a long moment as she tried to remember how to breathe. A dark and sadistic chuckle echoed around the room and Eleora scrambled to her feet, spinning around as she tried to see who, _'What'_ , was there. Backing up slowly towards Erik's crib, silently praying that her babe didn't wake, Eleora sent out a silent prayer for Jakob to _get the fuck home_ _already_.

Something flitted past her face and she gasped as she fell backwards, her back impacting against the crib with enough force to rock it slightly. A low whine emanated behind her and instinct took over as Eleora turned her head to stare at her distressed son. He was alright. He was still asleep. He was safe as long as Eleora was there.

But she wouldn't be there for long.

Some invisible force dragged Eleora away from her by her long tresses and she suppressed a cry of pain as she was thrown against the wall, her back colliding painfully with the wall and forcing the air from her lungs. She tried to struggle, tried to fight back, but her limbs were frozen, stuck to the wall and all she could do was stare out into the room in absolute terror because there _was_ something there now. Standing just a few feet away from Erik's crib, with burning yellow eyes and a silver smile the figure raised a hand and Eleora felt herself being dragged up the wall and onto the ceiling.

She stared down in horror as the figure moved closer to Erik's crib and looked up at her, still smiling darkly, and Eleora wanted to scream and shout and tell the bastard to get the _fuck away from her_ son, but she couldn't make a sound. All she could do was watch and feel as the figure tilted it's head and a fire of agony flared up in her stomach. No. In her _womb_. She let out a choked gasp as the pain built and through tear-filled eyes Eleora watched as the figure, _'Monster... Nightmare... Demon'_ , reached down to stroke her precious Erik's head as her son slept on, blissfully unaware of his mother's impending death.

The demon looked back up at her and Eleora let out another quiet gasp of pain as something broke inside her and she felt blood rising in her throat, choking her, killing her, drowning her in her own blood. The demon smirked evilly and Eleora's awareness of the world began to fade as the distant sound of a door opening reached her ears, just a bit louder than the buzzing in her head.

The last thing Eleora Eisenhardt saw with her emerald green eyes was the yellow-eyed demon looking down the hallway before looking back at her and waving at her as it faded away into nothing more than smoke. And the last breath Eleora Eisenhardt ever breathed was just long enough for her husband to walk into the baby's room and see his wife pinned to the ceiling as fire erupted around her.

And through it all, through every cry of anguish that escaped Jakob Eisenhardt's lips as he gripped his son's tiny form to his chest and hurried from the house they were going to have a life in, Erik Eisenhardt slept without a care in the world.

 

*** * * ***

 

 _**1** _ _**st** _ _**March 2010:** _

 

"Come on Hank!" Erik moaned as he threw himself into the cool seat of his Impala. "It's just _one_ Ghoul. Even you can handle it." Erik rolled his eyes as Bobby Singer, on the other end of the line, politely told him to go fuck himself and handle the _damned thing himself_.

"Remind me never to depend on you in a tight spot." Erik muttered sarcastically before ending the call, just to avoid Hank's response. For all the legend that Hank McCoy was in hunting circles, the man's acerbic tongue was definitely one of his best weapons. Heck, Erik was sure Hank could make a _Demon_ return to Hell of its own _free will_ just to get away from the man's sarcasm.

Smirking in amusement, Erik gunned the engine of his beloved Impala, and pulled out of the parking lot of the crappy motel he'd been rooming out for the period of his life that this boring hunt had taken up. Three days in the same place was a pretty rare thing for Erik Lehnsherr and he was proud of himself that he hadn't ended up being arrested for murdering the _no-good-son-of-a-bitch_ that was actually doing the damned killing in the first place. Damned cops were more trouble than they were worth in his opinion.

It wasn't as if the hunt had been difficult, no, it had only taken three days of his crummy life because he'd had to wait for the moon to be in the right position in the night sky. Fucking stupid in Erik's opinion but he'd kept himself busy during the two days, there were a lot of pretty girls in the town afterall. Why should he complain?

Not bothering to look behind at the crappy town he was leaving, Erik fiddled with the stereo until he flipped the right switch to bring his Metallica cassette into play and he grinned in satisfaction as he sped along Route-283 out of Wakeeney. _'Goodbye bitches. Thanks for not trying to shoot me this time'_ , he thought as Enter Sandman rang out of the speakers in the dashboard. Life was good now.

" _Exit light_

_Enter night_

_Take my hand_

_Off to never never land_

_Something's wrong, shut the light_

_Heavy thoughts tonight_

_And they aren't of snow white_

_Dreams of war, dreams of liars_

_Dreams of dragon's fire_

_And of things that will bite_

_Sleep with one eye open_

_Gripping your pillow tight."_

Oh yeah... life was definitely good for Erik Lehnsherr as he drove down Route-283, away from one completed job and towards another.

Little did he know that the next hunt would change his life. Forever.

*** * * ***

_**4** _ _**th** _ _**March 2010:** _

 

Sitting in the back of the bar he'd decided to stop by in, Erik surveyed the people around him in silent contemplation. The beer he'd been drinking was shit, honestly it really was, but it was better than water and more relaxing than tea – something Bobby often liked to point out in fact. He felt annoyed and tired. Again he hadn't been sleeping right. It was strange because usually, after such a job as the one only three days ago, Erik would have slept soundly for at least a week. But no. He was dreaming _that_ dream again.

So he was sure he could be forgiven for looking like he would shoot someone as soon as they looked at him. And that was why he nearly fell off his chair in surprise when a young man, _'Boy?'_ , sat down opposite Erik and smiled at him. Erik blinked in surprise and, after a moment's confusion, managed to get his game back enough for him to stare back at the smiling man with a raised eyebrow. "There's plenty of other seats 'round here." Erik pointed out, sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Yes, but none of them with such charming company along with." The young man responded, quick as a whippet, and Erik blinked in surprise again because this man, boy, child, was European. Like Erik. British if the clipped and polite words were anything to go by. "Honestly. Most of these people live such inane and trivial lives."

"And you think I don't?" Erik asked, tensing as warning bells rang in his mind. Something wasn't right with this. This young man, this polite and British young man, was not of the norm.

"Oh I know you don't Erik." The Brit said in amusement as he watched the other man sit up firmly in his chair. The young man smiled and held out a hand, completely calm and collected as Erik stared at him like he was about to sprout another head. "Charles Xavier. Nice to meet you Erik Lehnsherr, though that's not your _real name_ is it?"

Erik stared at the young man, Charles, in front of him in frustrated suspicion, internally debating whether he could get away with throwing the small canteen of Holy Water on the Brit and then blowing his fucking brains out, because there was _no way_ this man was anything _but_ a fucking Demon. _No-one_ knew Erik's name, not his real one or his fake one. And this boy, this _Charles_ , did. No fucking way, something was definitely wrong here.

Deciding to take his chances, and not alert anyone to anything going on – because people are dickheads and stupid and get in the way – Erik warily reached out and grasped the thin, fragile-looking hand in his own larger, calloused hand. He had to suppress the cry of surprise as he literally felt as though his entire mind was being set alight with _feeling_.

Gasping for breath, Erik wrenched his hand out of the Brit's grip and stared at him in surprise, worry, fear and anger. "What the fuck are you?" He snarled out viciously as he reached behind his back to grip the Desert Eagle hand-gun in his waistband.

"Not what, Who." Charles corrected politely, still smiling at the freaked out hunter. "I am not one of those things that you hunt in the night Erik." Charles tipped his head to the side slightly as he raised his eyebrows. "In fact. I hunt them too."

Erik couldn't form a sentence. Couldn't think and so he settled for staring at the younger man for a long, calculating moment before swiftly rising to his feet and hurrying out of the bar. 'Fucking follow me you freak,' He thought as he almost ran over to his Impala and opened the trunk.

He grabbed one of the shotgun's and a couple, small rods of iron before slamming the trunk shut and spinning around with the shotgun at the ready. He was greeted with an empty parking lot and he frowned, suspicious and cautiously aware that he was a good two dozen or so feet from the bar. And with the music playing, it would be doubtful anyone would hear him unless they were in the parking lot themselves.

The faint sound of footfalls on the loose gravel of the parking lot alerted Erik to another presence. He spun around and, without any preamble, squeezed the trigger of the shotgun and ejected a shell of rock salt into the young man behind him.

With a cry of pain and surprise, the Brit fell back onto the loose gravel, his head colliding with the floor hard enough to daze him, and Erik took full advantage of it in order to straddle the other man and prepare to ram one of the iron rods through the Brit's arm. But then he paused and actually looked at the man beneath him.

Demon's don't get dazed when shot by rock salt.

Demon's don't moan in pain as they try to regain their facilities.

Demon's don't do what Charles Xavier is doing as Erik prepares to impale him with iron rods.

Demon's fight against you and tear you apart from the inside out, smiling as you cough up blood and spit out dreams.

And one thing Erik was definitely sure of when it came to Demons, was the fact that they never passed out from a rock salt shell. But _people_ did. Charles has.

"Oh fuck." Erik breathed out in surprised realisation as he looked around the parking lot. "Fuck!"

 

*** * * ***

 

 _**5** _ _**th** _ _**March 2010:** _

 

"I don't fucking get it Hank! The guy knew my name; my _real_ name. No. I didn't tell him. No he's not a Demon; I checked. Yes I did it right you jackass, give me some credit!"

Charles groaned as the voice rang loud in his ears and he tentatively opened his eyes, only to snap them shut again as bright light poured through a window to his left. He groaned louder and the voice cut-off abruptly.

"I gotta go. He's awake." The voice said curtly and Charles frowned as he tried to remember where he was, who was talking and what the hell was going on. He remembered a bar, a pub, and a man... a man... 'Oh!'

Starting in surprise, Charles opened his eyes again, squinting in the bright light as he searched the room he appeared to be in. Lifting a hand to swipe a couple of stray bangs of his hair out of his face, Charles realised that he was bound to a chair. Trying desperately to control his breathing Charles looked to his right when Erik moved into his line of sight.

"What are you?" Erik asked grimly as he stared impassively at the Brit.

"Human." Charles replied as he stared warily at the other man who clenched his hands tightly into fists.

"What are you really?" Erik asked again, dark anger lacing his words and Charles swallowed reflexively as Erik reached over to the bed to Charles' right and picked up a bottle of clear liquid. _'Holy Water'_ , Charles' still confused mind supplied for him.

"I am human." Charles replied, desperation clear in every word as he stared firmly at the hunter who shook his head and dumped the contents of the bottle on his head. "Gah!" Charles let out a surprised cry as the water was bloody cold but that was the only sound he made even as Erik began to recite the traditional Exorcism chant.

"I am not a bloody Demon!" Charles cried out in frustration as Erik continued to speak. "And it's _Exorcizamus_ , not _Exorcista_ ; how long have you been messing up with this ritual exactly?"

Erik stuttered to a halt and stared at the Brit with surprised eyes. "What?" He asked as he watched how the younger man took a sort of half relieved breath. "I haven't been saying it wrong."

"Uh. Yes. Yes you have." Charles argued as he stared at Erik with a determined stare. "I know that ritual better than the ones who wrote so believe me when I say, you're saying it wrong."

"Really. How can I trust what you say?" Erik countered as he placed the book he'd been reading from on the bed beside him and stared challengingly at the Brit.

"You've drawn the Devil's Trap around me right?" Charles asked and Erik nodded tersely in reply. "Right. Well, since you've done that I shouldn't be able to do anything ' _supernatural'_ if I were a Demon correct?" Erik nodded again and Charles smiled slightly before continuing. "Alright. Then how do you explain my being able to do this?"

Erik stared in surprise as the door to the bathroom behind him slammed shut and the television turned itself on. His eyes locked with Charles' own as he stared at the Brit in surprise, suspicion and curiosity. _'How did he- He's not a- What the fuck?'_ , Erik couldn't think properly. He couldn't understand how this man could say he wasn't a Demon and then go and do Demonic fucking things. Only they weren't Demonic were they? No, because the Devil's Trap stopped Demons from working their magic. So this man had to be something else... but what? No other creature that Erik knew of had telekinetic abilities. Only... _'He's human.'_

"I am _not_ a Demon. I am _human_ , a very rare and unique kind of human I'll give you that. But human nonetheless." Charles said slowly, emphatically, as he stared at Erik. He watched the other man closely as he begged, hoped and prayed to the Heavens that this hunter wouldn't kill him anyway. "You're not alone Erik. You're not alone." Charles added softly as he saw the other man's shoulders tense up.

 

*** * * ***

 

"How can you do... those things exactly?" Erik asked tentatively as he stared at Charles, still suspicious of the other man. He'd discovered that, along with being a hunter, Charles had a degree in the Occult and had, up until last year, taught at Columbia University. Also, that the Brit has a step-sister in college in England and was actually the heir to one of the largest fortunes in the Western World.

"I don't know." Charles replied softly as he sat on the other bed in the motel room. He didn't look at Erik as he spoke but chose instead to try and unweave the bedding. "I've heard peoples' thoughts since I was a young boy and I've been able to move things since I was about eighteen. It's actually what got me really interested in the occult." Charles looked up at Erik as the hunter snorted in amusement at the irony.

"You do realise that any other hunter would have killed you and moved on right?" Erik pointed out as he watched Charles closely to see his reaction to that revelation. "And you took a risk last night. Why?"

Charles sighed and couldn't help but think, 'Always down to business with hunters... never any time to just relax,' as he answered Erik's questions. "Yes, I realise that. And I took a risk last night, not for my sake, but for your own."

Erik stiffened as he leaned against the headboard of the other bed in the room, his sharp, green eyes locking with Charles' own. "What do you mean?" The hunter managed to ground out through clenched teeth, his voice dangerously low.

"Alongside my telepathic and telekinetic abilities, I sometimes, occasionally, have premonitions." Charles explained quietly, not looking away from Erik's gaze. "About a week ago I had a premonition about _you_. A premonition that revealed to me which bar you would be at last night and what you would later end up doing if I hadn't of intervened."

"And what would I have ended up doing if you hadn't intervened?" Erik growled darkly as he sat up on the bed and stared hard at the other man who began to fidget slightly.

"You would have died." Charles whispered and Erik started minutely at the response. He would have _died_... how? When? Where? Who would have killed him? Why did Charles intervene? What purpose did saving Erik's life serve him?

"I couldn't let you die." Charles said, cutting through Erik's internal thoughts. The Brit's voice was low and sounded so very vulnerable that a part of Erik couldn't help but wonder _how_ this boy had survived hunting for a year. "I had the opportunity to save your life and I took it." Charles looked at Erik, his eyes burning suddenly with a fire Erik hadn't seen before except in the mirror. "And I'm not sorry I did."

"Even though I basically beat the crap out of you?" Erik asked, trying to sound more amused than he felt and Charles' lips quirked into a ghost of a smile.

"Oh definitely. Highlight of my night that was." Charles said sarcastically and Erik chuckled slightly, the tension of the previous conversation melting away. "I've wanted to be shot with, rock salt was it?" Erik nodded as he smirked at the Brit. "Wonderful. It's definitely in my top ten of favourite life-events that's for sure."

Erik huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Impossible." He muttered and Charles grinned at him. "Do you know Hank McCoy?" Erik asked, his tone serious because he had work to do.

"Yeah. I came across his name not long after I entered the game." Charles said as he ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't seem to like me all that much." He added as he looked up at Erik who let out a laugh of amusement.

"He doesn't seem to like anyone all that much. Don't take it personally." Erik smirked at the Brit before adding, serious once again. "Anyway. We'll go and see him tomorrow. I'll need to find out if you're what you say you are; no offense but you know Demons are sneaky and you do have Demon-like powers." Charles frowned at that but refrained from commenting so Erik continued. "And I need to know if there are repercussions for your actions in _'saving me'_."

"Alright." Charles nodded in quiet agreement. "Wake me up when we leave." He added before lying down on the other bed in the room and closing his eyes, pointedly ignoring the way Erik stared at him like he'd gone crazy. "I need my sleep, preferably not induced by a shot to the chest." He added somewhat sarcastically and he ignored the feeling of Erik's eye-roll, choosing instead to focus on the sound of his heart beating.

 

*** * * ***

 

 _**8** _ _**th** _ _**March 2010:** _

 

"He's human alright. A hundred percent." Hank grumbled as he walked into his study, if you could call it a study since it looked like someone had set off a paper-bomb in the room. Erik turned to look at the older man as he picked up his coffee cup and took a swig of the cold beverage.

"Uh. _He_ is right here remember?" Charles said grumpily as he followed behind Hank and glared daggers at the man's back, much to Erik's amusement. "I told you I was human." He added as he looked over at Erik who shrugged.

"Had to make sure you weren't lying." Erik said unashamedly as he smirked at Charles who merely switched his deadly glare on him. "Least I won't have to shoot you now." Erik added as Charles rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You've already shot me remember?" Charles pointed out darkly as he leaned against the door-frame of Hank's study. Charles glared at Erik who shrugged again but refrained from commenting any further as he thought calming thoughts, as much for Erik's sake as for his own. He really didn't want to lose control and turn the other men's minds to mush; even if they did annoy him.

Hank wisely chose to ignore the brewing argument, choosing instead to pour over the latest signs he'd collected of some of the latest Demonic activity in the country. He didn't like what he saw. He let out a string of curses, drawing Erik and Charles' attention before realising that they were staring at him.

"What is it Hank?" Erik asked as he moved over to peer over Hank 's shoulder and look at what the older man had collected. Erik stiffened as he stared that the signs. "Crap." He breathed out as his face paled as his mind connected the dots.

"Crap's right Erik." Hank muttered as he looked at the frozen younger man before looking over at Charles who was frowning in concern and confusion. "He doesn't know right?" Hank queried and Erik started.

"No." Erik answered as he straightened up and looked over at Charles. "At least, I don't _think_ he does." He amended his statement as he remembered that Charles had said had telepathic abilities.

"Do you know what this is about?" Erik asked the young professor as he gestured to Hank's notes. He watched as Charles warily moved towards the desk and peered at the same information Hank had been collecting for the past two months.

"Oh." Charles breathed out quietly. His eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his damp bangs plastered to his forehead. "Demonic activity." He said as he looked up at Erik and blinked rapidly. "A Demon that you're hunting." He added as, if was possible, Erik stiffened even more.

"Do you know why?" Erik ground out between clenched teeth, his back so impossibly straight that Charles wondered if it would snap in two were Erik tense even further. He didn't know what to say to the hunter, didn't know what he could say to calm the man because he could feel Erik's thoughts and emotions swirling around him like a tornado. So he chose to be honest.

"Not exactly." Charles started slowly, wary and alert in case Erik snapped and tried to take his head off. "I only know that it relates to your mother." He elaborated and he instinctively took a step back as Erik took a step towards him. "That is all I know. I swear." He babbled as Erik continued to move towards him and he continued to move back until his back was pressed against the staircase and Erik was towering over him. "I _swear_ Erik."

"If you're lying-" Erik started but he was cut-off as Charles started in surprise.

"I wouldn't lie about _this_ Erik. Please, believe me." Charles said as he stared imploringly at Erik's face, his eyes searching for some shred of trust in the hunter's gaze. "Please Erik?"

Hank rose slowly from his seat and moved to stand just behind Erik. "Erik." He said warningly and Erik turned his head a little, acknowledging Hank 's presence. "He ain't lyin' son." Hank continued as Charles continued to stare at Erik's face, not daring to look away first lest he end up six-feet under. Or burned. Probably burned.

Erik stared at Charles for a long moment, his face a blank mask but his eyes burning with so much feeling, so much pain that it hurt Charles to not look away from them. But he refused to look away until Erik looked away first. And they probably would have continued having their staring contest had it not been for the loud and shrill ringing of one of the phones besides Hank's desk.

' _Thank God for telecommunications and hunters conning law enforcement,'_ Charles thought as Erik broke the stare and, silently, moved away to return to studying the signs and trying to pinpoint a location.

 

*** * * ***

 

 

 

_**1** _ _**st** _ _**April 2011:** _

 

"Charles. I swear to God, if you don't shut your mouth right now I'm going to _feed you_ to the damned son-of-a-bitch!" Erik hissed murderously as the young man behind him who looked up at him in surprised shock.

"Charming." Charles whispered but refrained from saying anything else lest Erik actually carry through with his threat. Silently he handed Erik the arrow tipped with Dead Man's blood. He watched in silent fascination as Erik efficiently loaded the crossbow with the arrow. He waited in silence as Erik looked out into the darkness, searching for what they were hunting.

Though they'd only known each other for near enough a year, they had quite early fallen into a routine; permeated with late night chess matches and trips out to bars where they hustled pool or darts. Sometimes, Charles almost forgot that his first initial meeting with Erik had resulted in a angry bruise on his torso courtesy of a rock salt shell.

At first Erik hadn't wanted Charles anywhere near him, not after the first initial meeting, but Charles nothing if not persistent and, after arguing for two hours straight with both Erik and Bobby Singer, Charles had won the right to join them on their little excursion to hunt the Demon that haunted Erik's past. Unfortunately, they'd been too late and an entire family had been torn apart by the monstrous being, and Erik had been utterly devastated by their failure. His failure.

So Charles had stayed with him, both as a friend and a partner, and together they forged a bond between them that had saved their lives more than once. Erik was the better fighter, the more organised and powerful of the pair of them... at least, physically speaking. And Charles was the tactician, the planner, the scholar and the thinker – not that Erik was an idiot in any respect, but Erik couldn't read a person's thoughts and throw a blade without touching it.

"Now." Erik whispered softly and Charles nodded as he silently placed two fingers to his temple and focused in on their quarry. He sensed their mind, directly in front of them, a few dozen metres away and he raised a hand and pointed out into the darkness before them. Erik waited in silence as Charles forced his mind to manipulate the Vampire's own body, no mean feat either because Vampire's were astoundingly well-controlled with their minds, until the Vampire stumbled in the darkness before them. With no hesitation on his part, Erik swung the crossbow up and fired the arrow, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that it would hit it's mark.

They listened for a moment until they heard the sound of a body falling to the floor and they hurried out into the darkness, flicking on their torches as they did so. They found the Vampire lying in the dirt, nearly entirely paralysed from the dead man's blood on the arrow tip and Erik handed Charles his torch as he pulled out a large silver blade.

Looking away Charles tried to block out the sounds of Erik hacking the head of the Vampire because, even though he was a hunter and had killed Vampire's before, he had never gotten used to the fact that he could _feel_ whatever he was killing felt. It was horrid and poisonous and so very sickening that, at times, Charles wondered if _he_ was more of a monster than what he was hunting. Luckily however, tonight Charles had no such conflicting thoughts as Erik finished up with the Vampire.

"Wanna light the barbie?" Erik asked as he held out the lighter to Charles who silently shook his head. Frowning at Charles, Erik threw the lit lighter atop of the Vampire's remains and together they watched in silence as the fire burnt away the last remaining traces of one of the few Vampire nests in the States. It had taken them three days of hard work, little sleep, and a hell of a lot of bitching, but they had managed to chase down and kill every single damned Vampire in this town. If Erik was honest, he couldn't wait to see the back of it too because it was _boring_. He wished that he and Charles could have some time alone, just to relax and have fun, to be normal people for a while instead of ghosts off the grid hunting down evil. He wished for them to catch a break. He wished to catch the damned Demon that had haunted him all his life.

He wished for a lot of things.

His father had told him once, be careful what you wish for. Erik should have listened to him better.

 

*** * * ***

 

"Erik." Charles' voice echoed around the dimly lit motel room. "Are you awake?" Charles asked as he rolled over onto his side to stare at Erik's bed. He squinted in the darkness and was just able to make out the outline of Erik's body on the bed. " _Erik_."

"What Charles?" Erik muttered as he reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling above him. He had been asleep but now he was awake. _Great_. Not that he'd been having a good rest anyway, but that was beside the point. The point was, Charles had woke him up and Erik just wanted to _sleep_.

"I... uh..." Charles floundered for words as he stared at his friend's form. He didn't know what to say, not because he hadn't the words to describe what he wanted, but because he didn't have the nerve to just _come out with it_. Erik let out a quiet growl of frustration leaden with tiredness and Charles realised that he'd _have_ to say something unless he wanted to be strangled in his sleep.

"Her name was Angel." He muttered softly, not looking away from Erik's form as his friend turned his head and stared at Charles in the dark. Even in the dark Charles could tell Erik didn't have a clue what he was on about so he elaborated, his voice hitching and sounding embarrassingly vulnerable. "The Vampire. Her name was Angel."

Erik snorted and Charles frowned. "Someone has a sick sense of humour." Erik said as he rolled onto his side so he could look at Charles easier. He frowned himself when he took in how tense Charles seemed. "What's this about Charles?"

Charles sighed and grimaced as he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling, avoiding Erik's gaze. "What this is about Erik, is the fact that the Vampire we killed today was a human once. She had a family, friends, a _life_. And because of something she couldn't control she was made into a monster." Charles reached out a hand and rested it on his head as he stared at the ceiling. "It's just... I could... I might..."

"You might end up the same way?" Erik finished as he sat up in his bed and stared at Charles' stiff form. Charles refused to look away from the ceiling, choosing instead to give a half-shrug as Erik sighed. "Charles." The older man started. "You don't have it in you to be a monster. Seriously."

"Everyone has the capacity for evil Erik. Even me." Charles bit out as he entwined his fingers in his hair and gripped tightly. "Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but the inevitable truth of the matter is this; my powers, my abilities are not natural. They're not God-given and I hate to wonder if I'm more alike to the things we hunt than I am to regular people."

"Uh. Hello. I'm not exactly regular Charles. No hunter is." Erik pointed out as he flipped the bedside lamp on and stared pointedly at Charles' face. "Maybe you're right. Maybe one day you'll become a monster that'll be hunted down in the dark." Erik continued and Charles' eyes locked with his own, shock and betrayal clear in the blue eyes. "But, I'm going to do _everything_ in my not-so-inconsiderate power to make sure that _doesn't_ happen, you hear me?"

Charles stared in surprise as Erik looked pointedly him, the older man's eyes burning brightly with a challenging gaze. One that Charles doubted even God himself could argue against and so Charles sighed and nodded his understanding.

"Good." Erik said roughly as he lay back down and flipped the lamp back off. "Now go the hell to sleep Charles." He added and Charles smiled into the darkness. _'Thank God for Erik Lehnsherr'_ , Charles thought as he closed his eyes and began to drift off.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**3** _ _**rd** _ _**April 2011:** _

 

"I've told you Erik. We. Are. _Lost_." Charles said forcefully as he glared at the silent man driving the Impala down the dark, misty road.

"No, we're not." Erik countered as he cursed silently because damnit, they _were_ lost, but he'd be damned before he'd admit that to Charles. The last time he'd admitting to being lost, the younger man had teased the hell out of him and it had taken all of Erik's restraint to not throttle him. Needless to say, he was not going to give the Brit any more reason to drive him insane. Not that Charles needed a reason for that though.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed in exasperation as the car engine began to splutter and die. _'Fucking hell!'_ , Erik thought as the car rolled to a dead stop. Completely dead. Looking down at the fuel-gage Erik growled in frustration and smacked his hand against the steering wheel.

"We appear to have ran out of fuel." Charles commented as he leaned over to see the dashboard. "Didn't you fill her up at the last gas station?" Charles asked, frowning slightly as he thought back to yesterday morning. They had stopped over at a small town which had only one gas station. Erik had filled the Impala up then and in the morning they'd left. A full tank should have easily got them to the next town over.

"I..." Erik avoided Charles' gaze, his face the picture of a guilty-criminal. "I... uh."

"Erik." Charles said, a warning tone in his voice and Erik shrugged in embarrassment.

"I only filled her up to the half-way mark." Erik mumbled, studiously ignoring the way Charles glared daggers at him. "I thought we'd reach the town on it!" Erik defended as Charles groaned in exasperation.

"Great. Just great." Charles ranted as he climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. "We are stuck, in the middle of God-knows-where because _you_ thought half-a-tank would be enough!" Charles ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Bloody brilliant!"

"I'm sorry alright!" Erik growled as his anger bubbled to the surface and he scowled at the pacing Brit as he too climbed out of the Impala. "We can sleep in the Impala tonight and I'll go looking for fuel tomorrow morning." Erik reasoned, trying to calm himself down because really, shooting Charles now would just be a bad move. Though it'd probably be infinitely satisfying.

"I am _not_ sleeping in the Impala Erik." Charles said firmly as he stopped pacing and stared down Erik, who wisely looked away first. Sometimes, for such a short and dainty man, Charles could be damned nasty with his mouth; it was probably why him and Hank got on so well. Birds of a psychotic feather and all that malarkey.

Erik frowned as he stared along the dirt, track road the Impala had happily chosen to die on, and saw, in the distance, a shed of some sort not too far away. "Look." He said as he raised a hand and pointed towards the shed.

Charles' gaze immediately moved to follow Erik's line of sight and he frowned in confusion. "Is that a _shack_?" He asked as he took a step forwards, as though one step would help him see the thing better.

"Looks like it." Erik answered as he opened the door to the Impala and messed around with the clutch and the gears. "I'm going to push her up to it. You scout ahead and check to see if anybody's home." Erik added as he braced his shoulder against the door frame and began to push the heavy car along the road.

"Around _here_?" Charles said in disbelief but he quickly added. "Okay. Alright." When Erik glared at him. "Don't strain yourself." Charles smirked at Erik who ignored him as he made his way along the road, towards the shack.

Quickly Charles made his way to the shack and, after a quick look around and inside it, deemed it both habitable for them and not belonging to anybody. He pulled out the torch in his jacket pocket and shone the thin beam of light into the darkened shack, checking the walls and the roof for any damage that could make it unsafe or liable to flood; he was still angry at Erik for that barn last month, if he'd have known he was going to get a wet wake-up call he'd have booked himself into the Ritz hotel.

The sound of the Impala being pushed drew Charles' attention from the shack and he exited it to find Erik standing next to the Impala, now parked to the side of the road just beside the shack. Frowning slightly Charles made his way over to his friend and tapped the roof of the car. "It's habitable." He said shortly as he wondered just how strong Erik had to be to move the Impala so... easily. "Difficult car to move?" He asked innocently.

"Not really." Erik answered shortly, glaring at Charles. "Would have been harder if you'd have tried to help." He added smirking as Charles scowled at him. "Salt the perimeter. I'll set up the wards."

Tossing a box of rock salt at the Brit, Erik grabbed a small hand-bag from the trunk and strolled into the shack, pointedly ignoring the way Charles muttered murderous comments under his breath. In silent efficiency, Charles quickly salted a small ring around the Impala and the shack before moving inside to salt the windows and door.

"You're going to sleep now?" Charles asked as he realised that Erik had already warded the place and was settling down on the floor, a roll-out blanket over him.

"Yep." Erik answered shortly as he rolled onto his side, ignoring the way the ground pushed against his hipbone. "Night." He added as he closed his eyes and suppressed a smile at Charles' muttered comments.

"Dandy." Sarcasm suited Charles too well. It really did.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**4** _ _**th** _ _**April 2011:** _

 

Slowly, blurrily, Charles opened his eyes as he tried to orientate himself. Where was he? Why was lying on the ground? Why did it feel like someone had dropped a tonne weight on his chest? And why was there a line of salt next to his?

Salt.

Oh... right, _salt_.

Suddenly alert Charles sat up and was surprised that one; the tonne weight was actually another blanket and two; he was alone in the shack. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked around until his rapidly improving eyesight spied a note stuck to a packet of crisps and a water bottle. Frowning, Charles pushed the blankets off himself and stood up, stretching his sore back as he did so. _'I am never sleeping on the damned ground ever again'_ , he thought forcefully as he stepped over to the crisps and water bottle.

"Don't panic. Gone looking for some fuel. Be back later. Erik." Charles read aloud as he stared at the note for a long moment.

He blinked once.

Twice.

"I'm going to kill him." He said to nothing in particular as he scrunched up the note and tossed it aside, picking up the water bottle and crisps.

"A feast fit for a king." He muttered as he stared at his breakfast. Sighing and mentally telling himself to cowboy-up, Charles took a swig of the water before opening the packet of crisps and tucking in. "Next time, _I'm_ getting the supplies."

 

*** * * ***

 

It was late in the evening when Charles' sensitive hearing picked up the sound of someone approaching the shack and, as per a paranoid existence, he picked up the shotgun beside him and cautiously poked his head out the door of the shack only to come face-to-face with Erik's surprised face.

"Gah!" Charles cried out as he fell backwards and landed on his arse, his feet resting in the salt line of the door and he glared up at Erik. "Why didn't you call out?" He demanded as he dragged himself to his feet, not noticing the gap in the salt line that his boot had created.

"Sorry." Erik said, not answering his question as he pushed past the shorter man. "Got the gas and something to eat too." He continued as he placed the bag in his right hand on the rickety table and the jerry can on the floor next to it.

Charles stared at Erik, breathing heavily as the adrenaline rushed through his system. "I'll fill the tank. You get the stuff together." He said shortly as he picked up the jerry can, refusing to groan aloud at how heavy the damned thing was, and he half-dragged, half-waddled out to the Impala with it.

He mentally called Erik a dozen or so names that he'd never say aloud as he carefully began the process of transferring the gas from the can to the tank. A process that would take him at least ten minutes, regardless of whether he bitched or not.

He heard the sound of Erik shuffling around and packing away in the shack as he continued to pour the gas into the tank and, by the time there were only dredges left in the can, he fully expected Erik to be ready with the bags by the car. Except he wasn't.

"Erik?" Charles called out as he dropped the, now empty, jerry can on the ground and closed the tank cap. He frowned when he received no response and cautiously moved towards the shack. "Erik?" He called again as he tentatively took a step into the shack.

Standing in the middle of the shack, Erik held one of the rock salt shells aloft in the air and Charles watched in confusion, and fear, as Erik calmly dropped the shell and crushed it with the heel of his boot. _'That's not Erik'_ , Charles thought as he instinctively reached behind his back and gripped the berretta in his waistband, swinging the handgun around, mentally steeling himself to fire upon his friend. But as he raised the gun and took aim he found it flying out of his hands as he was flung into the wall of the shack.

He let out a cry of pained surprise as his head collided with the wall hard enough to make him see stars for a moment. He tried to move but found himself quite literally stuck to the wall and he couldn't move his arms, legs or even his head. He was well and truly trapped. _'Shit.'_

A deep, throaty chuckle emanated from Erik and Charles' attention was drawn to the slowly turning monster wearing his friends face. What had been soft, green eyes last night were now sickeningly yellow orbs set in a white background. Charles stared in horror as the monster in Erik's body slowly walked towards him, sauntered, and he swallowed convulsively when it reached out a hand, a warm, calloused hand that he knew so well, and lightly stroked Charles' cheek.

"Who are you?" Charles breathed out as he stared wide-eyed at the face he knew so very well but right now it was more foreign to him than a strangers. Though Charles wasn't one to openly admit things, he was absolutely fucking terrified.

"Can't you read my mind Charles?" Erik's voice drifted through the shack and Charles had to mentally remind himself that this _was not Erik_. The Demon, because even Charles knew that this wasn't an earthly creature in his friend's body, smirked in amusement, it's yellow-eyes sparkling with malice and humour. "Oh wait..." It breathed out in mock realisation. "You _can't_ can you?"

Charles swallowed and stared in fear at the smirking not-Erik before him. He flinched back and turned his head to the side as the back of his head hit the wall when the Demon shot forward until his face was centimetres from Charles' own. He was so close that Charles could feel the hot puffs of breath on his cheek and, against every logical thought in his mind and every instinctive response any and every human experienced, Charles slowly turned his face so he was looking into those poisonous yellow orbs.

"Since I can't read your mind. You'll have to tell me your name." Charles said as levelly as he could manage, refusing to look away from those horrid eyes that filled with mirth and something that vaguely resembled respect. The Demon smirked at him with Erik's smirk and, for a long moment, Charles truly believed that he was about to die there-and-then but then the Demon was stepping backwards and looking him up and down. Like he was a piece of meat.

"The name's Shaw." The Demon, Shaw, said pleasantly. "Erik knows me pretty well, though he's never seen my face; in any of the meat suits I've worn over the years." Shaw added as he waved a hand and all of the weapons that he and Erik used in their hunts were swept to the side into a little pile. "Messy lot aren't you?" He commented as he raised his gaze to meet with Charles' own.

Charles didn't respond, choosing instead to watch as Shaw, _'Not Erik. Not Erik. It's not Erik!'_ , casually strode over to where the blankets were wrapped up. "Especially in certain areas." Shaw added as he glanced down at the blankets which suddenly unrolled themselves to cover a large enough expanse of the wooden flooring that half the floor was now carpeted. Big enough for two people...

"I wonder if you're just as messy." Shaw continued conversationally as he walked back over to stand in front of Charles, looking down appreciatively at the younger man. "I bet you're the loud type. Prim and proper out in the world." Shaw leaned in close, his hot breath ghosting over Charles' taught neck as the younger man turned his head away. "It's always the quiet one's, that's what they say isn't it?"

Charles let out a cry of surprise and pain as Shaw bit down sharply on Charles' neck, hard enough to draw blood, and the younger man tried to thrash and _get the fuck away_ , but he couldn't because he still couldn't move. Shaw grinned against Charles' neck, running his tongue over the punctured flesh causing Charles to moan in pain. "Yum." Shaw breathed out as he lifted his head slowly to look into Charles' wide, fearful and pain gaze. "Exotic."

' _Please God... help me'_ , Charles prayed as Shaw's hand shot out and his fingers wrapped themselves around Charles' hair. He let out a cry of pain as Shaw viscously wrenched his head to the side, making his neck muscles contort and stretch painfully.

"God's not here Charlie-boy." Shaw hissed sharply into Charles' ear before biting down on it making him cry out again. "Only you and _me_." He added as he pulled Charles, by his hair, away from the wall and threw him down onto the blankets.

The force of hitting the ground knocked the air out of his lungs but Charles began to scramble backwards, _'Get away. Get away. Get the fuck away!'_ , only for his attempts to flee to be halted in their tracks as he was suddenly forced down, flat on his back with his arms and legs spread. He stared up in absolute terror as Shaw grinned down at him.

"Erik!" Charles cried out, hoping against hope that his friend was in there and could _stop_ this monster. "Erik! Listen to me please! Don't let him do this!"

Shaw laughed harshly as he straddled Charles' waist and gripped Charles' throat in a calloused palm. "Oh Charlie-boy." He sighed as he slowly began to tighten his grip around Charles' throat, making the younger man gasp and choke. "Don't you _get_ it. Erik can't stop me. _You_ can't stop me."

Leaning down close to Charles' face Shaw grinned darkly, his yellow eyes glowing in the semi-darkness. "We're going to have some fun tonight Charlie-boy, so sit back and enjoy the ride."

 

*** * * ***

 

_**5** _ _**th** _ _**April 2011:** _

 

"Oh... my head." Erik moaned as he curled up and clutched his throbbing skull tightly in his hands. "Fucking hell..."

"There's aspirin on the table. I would recommend you take two now." Charles said calmly as he sat on the opposite side of the shack, polishing the metal of a shotgun he held in a white-knuckled grip.

Erik slowly uncurled from the foetal position and tentatively rose to his feet, not noticing how Charles stiffened at his movements. He groaned as the throbbing in his skull increased with the change in altitude but he managed to stumble over to the table and dry-swallow two aspirin. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"What happened?" He managed to mutter as he tried to will the pain in his head away. God he felt like death warmed over. What the hell had happened to him exactly? What had Charles done to his head? How much had he had to drink? He must have drank something.

"Oh nothing much." Charles answered lightly but, even in his pained state, Erik picked up on the undertone of tension in his voice. "You we just possessed by the Demon we've been hunting for the last year, you most of your life, and he had a nice little chat with me that ended in me walloping you across the head with a metal bar before forcibly exorcising you."

"What?" Erik exclaimed as his head snapped up and damn it, his head really hurt too much for such a revelation. He stared intently at Charles who had tensed even further after Erik's outburst. "Charles?"

"You don't remember?" Charles asked, his grip on the shotgun so tight that Erik was sure that there'd be grooves in the metal later. Charles looked up at Erik as the older man shook his head, wincing as he did so because you shouldn't shake your head when it felt like it was splitting in two. "Well then."

"What did I do?" Erik bit out, his voice low and laced with anger. He continued to stare at Charles as the younger man stopped cleaning the shotgun and stood up slowly.

"You did nothing my friend. It is Shaw, the Demon, that has caused me injury." Charles said firmly as he stared Erik down, his eyes burning with determination, passion and... a little fear?

"Injured you?" Erik's mind picked up on the mean behind Charles' words and he stood up to his full height, observing how Charles tensed even further, if that was at all possible. "How?" He demanded as he took a step towards Charles only to stop short as his friend gripped the shotgun in steady hands.

"I assure you my friend." Charles said, quirking his lips in an attempt at a smile that seemed to be more self-deprecating than Erik was sure it was meant to be. "Shaw injured me in ways that I am not unused too." Erik was about to open his mouth and ask, demand, what Charles actually meant when the younger man moved towards the door abruptly. "We need to get moving. Hank was expecting us last night. We'll have to call him as soon as we get cell phone reception."

And just like that, the conversation was over as Charles left the shack, left Erik alone with a blank memory of the night before. But, just because he had no recollection of it all didn't mean that the feelings weren't there. And they sickened Erik to the very core of his being.

Whatever had happened, Erik knew Charles would never tell him. And so Erik himself would never know. He didn't know whether that was a bad thing though.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**21** _ _**st** _ _**May 2011:** _

 

Two men, laughing loudly, stumbled along the walkway towards their room, leaning heavily on each other as they did so. Both of them had drank more than the average human could consume, even the shorter of the pair had managed half-a-dozen more shots than the best drinkers could handle. They'd have one hell of a hangover in the morning, that was for sure.

Erik giggled, _giggled_ , as he fumbled with the keycard to their room, missing the lock several times before he mastered the motor-skills necessary to open a simple door, and he dragged Charles' smaller form through the door behind him.

Charles laughed joyously as Erik slammed the door shut, but his laughter was abruptly cut off when Erik pushed him against the door and pressed his body against Charles' own. Looking up at Erik, his eyesight and focus blurred by the not-so-inconsiderate amount of alcohol in his system, Charles could do little but stare as Erik leaned down and pressed his lips against Charles'.

Erik moaned into the kiss but Charles tensed up, his entire body going rigid as no quantity of alcohol could overcome the instinctive fear and repulsion he felt. Without even being consciously aware of it, Charles lashed out with his mind, hitting Erik with a wave of psychic energy that threw the taller man away from him and onto his back.

Staring wide-eyed at Erik, Charles couldn't help choking out. "I'm sorry." Before he turned tail and scarpered out the door into the night, leaving Erik lying on the floor trying to recollect his senses.

When he finally managed to sit up, the alcoholic daze completely gone courtesy of one of the most powerful detox's Erik had ever experienced, the first words out of his mouth were something along the lines. "What the fuck?"

 

*** * * ***

 

Charles cautiously opened the door to the motel room, wary of any flying projectiles or hidden shadows in the darkness, and he stepped into the semi-dark room after a moment's hesitation. Gently closing the door behind him, he reached out for the light switch only to be blinded by the lamp on the bedside table being switched on. Turning his head away from the bright light and squeezing his eyes shut, Charles' heart jumped into his mouth as his ears picked up the sound of someone moving on one of the beds.

Daring to open his eyes, Charles squinted at the bed and managed to make out the blurred out line of Erik sitting atop the fresh bedding, staring at him reservedly. Opening his mouth to speak, Charles found he had nothing to say so, as his eyesight fully adjusted to the brightness, he snapped his mouth shut and stared back at Erik.

"Charles." Erik said quietly, firmly, and Charles couldn't help but tense slightly at the sound of his friend's voice, _'He's not Shaw. This is Erik. This is Erik damnit!'_. "We need to talk."

 

*** * * ***

 

Sighing nervously, Charles repressed the urge to fidget as he sat on the edge of his bed in the motel room. Opposite him Erik sat hunched over slightly, and a part of Charles' mind was reminded of the Grotesques that sat atop of Gothic Cathedrals. The parallel was hauntingly disturbing and Charles shook his head slightly to rid himself of the thought.

"What really happened that night Charles?" Erik asked quietly, softly, and Charles looked up at the other man.

What on earth could he say exactly? Could he really tell Erik what had transpired in those eight hours that Erik himself, had no recollection of? Could Charles really do that to his friend? Did he have the courage to give Erik the truth that he was asking for?

Charles stared into Erik's green eyes, 'Green like the English countryside in summer', and knew that he could, did, would. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Charles steeled himself and began to speak. His voice never rising above a whisper but it was deafeningly loud in the, far too bright, motel room.

"You came back with fuel. I don't know what time but it was after sunset. You seemed... strange... off but I didn't concern myself with that. I filled up the Impala's tank whilst you packed our gear up ready to put it in the trunk... I... I waited for you to come out but you didn't so I went back into the shack."

Charles' voice hitched here and he swallowed convulsively before continuing, all the while not looking at Erik's face. "You were standing there holding a shell... you dropped it and crushed it with your heel. I knew then... t-that it wasn't really y-you. I was fully prepared to s-shoot you. To k-kill you." Charles shook his head as he clenched his hands into tight fists, feeling the bite of his nailing digging into the flesh of his palms. "But I... I didn't get the chance." He let out a harsh laugh filled with such bitter, self-hatred that Erik winced.

"Next thing I know. I'm p-pinned to the wall and you're there in front of me. Only it's not y-you. It's the D-Demon, Shaw. He's wearing your face, your body, using your voice to talk to me and I was so _scared_..." Charles shuddered and Erik managed to repress the urge to envelope the other man in a hug and whisper sweet nothing's to him.

"He _mocked_ me. Laughed at me. And then..." Sucking in a large breath of air, Charles' gaze slowly, reluctantly rose to lock with Erik's own. "And then he... raped me."

 

 

*** * * ***

 

_**2** _ _**nd** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

"Hank says that he knows where this son-of-a-bitch is going to be next." Erik said as he strode into the motel room they were staying at to find Charles sitting at the table googling away on his laptop. "Not too far from here in fact, but he wants us to stop off at his first. Says he's got a gift for us." Erik added as he grabbed a beer from the mini-fridge and sat down on one of the chairs next to Charles.

"Yeah I know. He called me first." Charles said distractedly as he clicked his way through half-a-dozen pages fast enough to make Erik feel like he had whiplash. "I don't know what he's got but he sounded positively giddy when he told me." He added as he stopped his googling to look up at Erik's amused face. "What?"

"Nothing." Erik answered smirking at Brit who rolled his eyes at the teenage antic Erik seemed to be a fan of right now. "We leave tonight." He said, all business as he leaned back and sipped his beer.

"Alright." Charles agreed as he returned to his googling. Erik was curious as to what his friend was looking for but he had learnt his lesson the first, and last, time he'd asked. Twenty minutes of lecturing on the historical connotations surrounding the area they were hunting in and Erik had been sure he was actually brain dead because it sure as hell felt like it.

Reaching out casually, Erik let his hand rest on the table top, silently offering it up to Charles. After their initial conversation nearly two months ago, Erik had realised early on that one; Charles did like him in _that_ sense and two; if he wanted their relationship to work, he had to go at Charles' pace. The fact that he felt absolutely rotten with himself probably helped him more than anything else because there had been times when he'd have loved nothing more than to fuck Charles till his brain exploded.

But he cared about Charles too much to let his silly lust get in the way. And so he waited for Charles to reach the level he was on.

Not looking away from the laptop screen, Charles reached out a hand and rested the tips of his fingers against the back of Erik's hand. Smiling in satisfaction, Erik took another sip of his beer and couldn't help but think, _'Progress.'_

 

*** * * ***

 

 

_**3rd June 2011:** _

 

"It's about time you guys got here. I was starting to worry." Hank's voice filtered down from the porch of his home as Charles and Erik climbed out of the Impala. They both looked over at Hank's form and grinned simultaneously making the other man role his eyes at them. "Get in here."

Still grinning in amusement, Erik and Charles quickly ascended the steps and entered Hank's home, Erik closing the door behind them before following Charles into the study. Hank stood in front of the desk, obscuring their view of something resting on the top, and Erik couldn't help being intrigued. Charles' eyebrows raised slightly in the way that told Erik that Charles himself was intrigued as well.

"What have you got there Hank?" Charles asked curiously as he stood just inside the study and Erik stood beside him, both of them waiting for Hank's response.

Hank smiled at them, a toothy grin that Erik normally associated with a slightly deranged and unhinged Hank, and turned slightly to pick up the box he'd been blocking from view. "Something to kill that God-damn son-of-a-bitch Shaw." Hank answered as he held the box out towards them.

Glancing briefly at Charles, Erik reached out and took the box from Hank's grasp. Charles' gaze was riveted on the box, his eyes wide and Erik could almost _feel_ his amazement, and Erik cautiously opened the lid of the box to reveal...

"My God." Charles breathed out as he stared at the sleek metal of one of the most legendary weapons in the history of hunters around the world. "Is that-"

"The Colt, yep." Hank finished as he waggled his eyebrows in exhilaration. "The one and only thing that can kill a Demon."

Erik stared down at the gun in silence, his mind alight with thoughts, feelings, memories and he felt the world fading away until it was just him and the Colt. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else existed. Nothing but this gun and his revenge.

"Erik." Charles said quietly, his attention now on his stationary friend. "Erik." He repeated, a bit more forcefully and Erik started out of his focus.

Looking over at the shorter man, Erik smiled slightly and gently lifted the Colt from its box, his long, slender and strong fingers curving around the handle as he raised the gun to point it at the book shelf behind Hank. "How'd you get it?" Erik asked as he looked at Hank.

"Hunter called Daniel Elkins, sent it to me last week; said he didn't want to leave it in his home any longer 'cause of some Vamps in the area." Hank answered, his words veiled with sadness and Erik realised what must have happened to Elkins. "Said to put it to good use on something other than Vamps." He added as he looked pointedly at the two hunters before him.

Erik closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Let's go kill the bastard." He said darkly as he looked down the length of the gun and caught Hank's eye. "Thanks."

Hank nodded his welcome at the hunter, his eyes filled with something that Erik couldn't identify but it looked suspiciously like pride.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**4** _ _**th** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

"We can handle the bastard ourselves Charles." Erik insisted as he followed the shorter man around the Impala as the Brit continued to throw their bags into the trunk. "We don't need to waste time looking for other hunters."

"Erik, be reasonable. We cannot get to Shaw if we are dead and we definitely won't be able to get to Shaw if the man has a number of Demons waiting for us; which he most certainly will." Charles sighed as he stopped and turned to face the hunter as he pouted glumly. "Stop pouting, it makes you look like a de-toothed Shark." Charles added and Erik blinked. _'Shark?'_

"And yes, a shark Erik; I mean, have you seen your smile?" Charles looked pointedly at the hunter and his lips curled slightly as his eyes sparked with mischief. "Though I guess you haven't, what with you breaking all the mirrors in your presence."

"With my rugged handsomeness of course." Erik cut in as he glared at the Brit who laughed lightly. Though he didn't want to, Erik found his lips curling into a smile also because Charles was _laughing_ , and this happy Charles was so different to the one that Erik saw in the dead of night when the Brit would toss and turn throughout the night before starting awake only to smash something in the room. This smiling, happy Charles was the whole-reason that Erik was able to sit by and wait for Charles to calm down in the night before offering comfort.

"Oh, most definitely my friend." Charles smiled warmly up at the hunter, something curling in his gut and flooding his body with a warmth that he hadn't been unaccustomed to. It was... nice. Not repulsive and not sickening like it had been with... _that beast_. Erik, oh sweet, loving, kind and intense Erik was everything to Charles; even his dear sister couldn't compete with this man and Charles was forever thankful that he would likely never have to choose between the two because he doubted his heart could take the choice. It would quite literally kill him because... oh let the saints forgive him, he _knew_ he'd chose Erik over Raven. And he hated himself a little for it because family is supposed to _come first_. But Erik was so much _more_ to him than family.

Impulsively he reached out to grasp Erik's hand in a tight grip, as though to reaffirm for himself that the hunter was real and there and alive. A part of Charles wondered how he must look to Erik right now, with all these thoughts and feelings rolling around in his head and heart, but he wasn't even the slightest bit tempted to look through Erik's eyes to find out. There was something sacred between them now, something that Charles wasn't going to jeopardise for the sake of _any_ thing. And if that meant going looking for hunters, wasting a couple of days to cobble together some sort of team, then he'd be damned if he let Erik make him feel guilty about because damnit, he was doing this _for_ Erik.

Erik stared deeply into Charles' eyes, looking, searching, for something and Charles knew what his friend was looking for. He'd known since that day in April and he'd also known that eventually he'd be able to give his friend what he was so patiently waiting for. _'Fuck it'_ , Charles thought, uncharacteristically brash and impulsive, _'We might die soon and I am not going to Heaven or Hell with getting a kiss from this man!'_

Perhaps something in his face gave away his thoughts or perhaps it was Erik who had suddenly developed telepathic abilities because the hunter smiled lustfully and dipped his head down as Charles stretched his entire body to reach for those delicious looking lips.

And it was exquisite when they touched, a million sparks of pure wanton electricity exploding between them as Charles moaned deeply and wrapped an arm around Erik's broad, muscled back. Their lips were locked in the throes of desire and wanton passion that had been denied between them since they'd first met, though neither had been aware of the atmosphere between them back then. Erik growled in the back of his throat, the sound reverberating through his chest and his mouth making Charles gasp into the kiss, and he slid one of his muscled arms around the Brit's waist, holding him close, stopping him from running away again, protecting him, keeping him there where Erik would always protect him to his death. And it was all so heady, so erotic that Charles let go of the tenuous grip on the wall between his thoughts and everyone else and flooded Erik's mind with his own words, dreams, ideas, wishes and nightmares.

' _Oh God, I love him so much it hurts...'_

' _I don't ever want this to end, I want this to go on forever...'_

' _He'll leave me one day but please God don't let it be today...'_

' _God, I've wanted this for months!'_

' _More Erik... please, God give me more...'_

' _Take the reminders of him away from me Erik, replace them with memories of you please...'_

Erik's chest rumbled deeply as he literally lifted Charles up with the arm around the Brit's waist and placed him on the hood of the Impala. His other hand ran along the length of Charles' chest, under the button-down shirt the Brit wore, gliding over the pale, lean flesh so tauntingly that Charles gasped as he broke the kiss and arched his back. Erik nuzzled his neck with his nose, his breath ghosting over the overly-sensitive skin of Charles' neck and he murmured something into the smooth skin too quietly for Charles to hear, but the feelings that accompanied the words... those feelings hit Charles like a tonne weight and he forgot how to breath for a minute as his mind shuddered to a halt and his breathing hitched painfully for a long, long moment.

' _This is what it's like to be loved'_ , Charles found himself thinking when his mind started up again. _'This is what it feels like to be loved by someone with every fibre of their being...'_ It was so much, too much, but not enough, never enough because Charles wanted more. He wanted more than just love, he wanted the passion, the lust, the anger, the hate that Erik had inside him. To be truly loved, Charles wanted everything Erik had to offer him, not only the good in the hunter but also the dark poison at the centre of Erik's core. A dark poison that was at the heart of Charles too.

Erik's movements slowed as he slid his hand out from beneath Charles' shirt and loosened the tight grip he had on the Brit's waist. Lifting his head slowly, Erik looked into the blue eyes staring at him with so much feeling that it made something in Erik shatter. A wall around his heart. A wall that had been built around his living soul for most of his life, only ever cracked and tarnished by a half-dozen people, and now it was shattered. Shattered into a billion pieces and scattered to the winds as Charles reached up with a steady hand and gently stroked his cheek. And Erik finally understood _why_ his father had been so broken by his mother's death, why the man had survived through-out the years with only the need for revenge to keep him afloat. Erik finally understood that, when you loved someone so much, with every single part of your heart and soul, every ounce of _good_ in you, that when you lost them... you lost _yourself_ too, and he swore to himself that he would _never_ lose Charles. _'I will never lose you'_ , he thought forcefully, intensely as he stared back into those burning blue eyes and he knew his own were alight with passion and fire and _need_. _'I won't let you go.'_

Charles smiled, love pouring out of every pour of his body, permeating the air and Erik absorbed the love like a sponge starved of water for too long. He took every piece that Charles chipped away from himself and handed to Erik without an ounce of shame and he felt a tear roll down his cheek as he heard Charles' response. _'I wouldn't have it any other way Erik... I wouldn't have it any other way.'_

 

*** * * ***

 

"So..." Erik drawled as he tapped the steering wheel impatiently, Charles had made him turn the stereo off after he started playing Iron Maiden. Looking over at the Brit he raised his eyebrows and asked, his voice innocent. "When's this going to be sorted?" He suppressed a smile as Charles slowly raised his head to give him what might have been the mother of all death-glares.

"I don't know Erik, I am not a fortune teller." Charles said slowly, breathing deeply as though he were only just restraining himself from giving Erik a psychic-headslap. The younger man looked away from Erik and back down at the map he was currently studying, well, trying to study.

"No. You're a telepath, _much_ more respectable." Erik said sarcastically, enjoying the way Charles gave him a side-long look of I-am-going-to-turn-your-brain-to-goop-in-the-most-painful-way-I-can-possibly-conjure-up-if-you-don't-shut-up! It was a lot less threatening that Charles probably realised because, to Erik, it just made the Brit look like a pouting six year old.

' _Oh hush'_ , Charles thought in exasperation as the hunter who chuckled as he turned away to look back out the window, satisfied that he'd riled Charles up; it was a good pastime for him, and revenge for all the times that Charles drove him silently loopy. It was boring though now because Charles had quickly caught onto the fact that, if he ignored Erik for long enough, then the hunter would eventually stop; though, more often than not, Charles couldn't hold out long enough and Erik had his entertainment.

They had been waiting for over an hour for Hank to drag his arse out of the lonely cabin in the woods and if he was honest, Erik was one step off going into the damned cabin himself and dragging the no-good, reclusive son-of-a-bitch that was Armando Muñoz, AKA Darwin. The only reason he hadn't done so already was due to the fact that one; Charles had telekinetic locked the doors of the Impala so, unless Erik wanted to damage his beloved car, he'd have to wait for Charles to willingly unlock it and two; Charles had steadfastly refused to step foot out of the Impala and Erik wasn't going to go anywhere without the Brit. Still, he was awfully tempted to try and con Charles into letting him get out the car to _stretch his legs_.

Just as he was thinking, plotting, about doing so the sound of a door opening and raised voices drew his attention and he looked at the cabin to see the front door open. Leaning forward in his seat slightly, Erik's sharp eyes picked out the tall outline of Hank and another man arguing on the threshold of the cabin. Not even consciously being aware of doing so, Erik reached out and pulled the handle on the door, only for it to catch and not open. 'What the- Damn it', Erik looked at Charles pointedly and the telepath sighed as he unlocked the doors and climbed out of the Impala as Erik did so also. Together they set off for the cabin, listening to both the conversation, argument really, and the surrounding area as they did so.

"I don't care if you were going after the Devil himself Hank! I'm not helping." Darwin shouted as he tried to slam the door in Hank's face but the other hunter stuck his foot in the door frame and jammed it. Darwin glared at Hank who stared coolly back at him though Charles could clearly hear Hank's thoughts and he was actually surprised at how many curses the other man actually knew.

"Please Armando." Charles said as he stepped onto the porch of the cabin and drew the attention of the reclusive hunter. "I understand that you're reluctant to leave your home after the many things you've experienced in your life, but we're going after Shaw." Charles continued as he stepped up next to Hank, well aware that Erik was standing only a step or so behind him. He looked side-ways at Hank and nodded slightly. Hank slowly removed his foot from the door frame and stepped back so he was beside Erik, leaving the recruiting to Charles.

"Good for you kid." Darwin said as he held the door but he didn't shut it in Charles' face. "But it's not any of my business." He added as he leaned on the door frame and looked down sadly at Brit.

"It will be though." Charles countered softly, he ignored the way Erik and Hank looked questioningly at him. "Shaw is a Demon, Armando, and a despicable one at that. Granted, he is one of many, but the other Demons are not planning on starting a war unlike Shaw." Charles continued as he thought back over what the Demon had told him during that night... the words fleeting and had little meaning at the time, but Charles had done the research, ran the numbers and looked at the signs across the world. Shaw was gearing up for a war. "Shaw is planning on starting a war against humans, a war that, if we don't stop now, we will most certainly lose."

Darwin stared in shocked silence at the Brit, his tongue stuck to his throat and Charles could feel the disbelief, the shock, the confusion from each of the three men. Taking a breath and tilting his head to the side, Charles spoke, a challenging tone to his voice that sounded almost dangerous. "So, do you think it's your problem _now_ Armando?"

 

*** * * ***

 

_**5** _ _**th** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

It was quiet as they drove down the road, a small convoy of cars, and Erik cast a side-ways glance at the dozing Brit in the passenger seat beside him. Charles looked relaxed and comfortable, such a contrast to how he'd looked less than two days ago that Erik often found himself looking at the younger man as if to reassure himself that it was really Charles and he was really resting. It seemed that, after their little impromptu make-out session - which had ended rather abruptly courtesy of a mentally-scared Hank - something in Charles had loosened, reconciled even, and he trusted Erik so completely that it was only in the hunter's presence that the Brit was able to sleep freely of his nightmares.

It made something swell in Erik's chest as he realised this and he tentatively reached out with a hand and gently stroked Charles' brow, smoothing away the slight frowns on the innocent and youthful face. Sometimes, when Erik knew Charles wasn't listening in on his thoughts – intentionally or otherwise – Erik thought back to the words that Charles had spoken those weeks ago, after Erik had awoke to find a day's worth of his life missing from his memory. _"Shaw injured me in ways I am not unused too."_ What did that mean exactly? Erik knew that Shaw had r-raped his friend using Erik's own body, and how that had fucked up Erik's mind – _still_ fucked up his mind – but Erik was curious as to what it meant for Charles that his friend – lover? – was familiar with it... rape... or sex with a man? Erik wasn't sure and it made him feel uncertain, nervous and down-right murderous all at once to think about it for too long.

Charles murmured something and shifted in his seat, batting Erik's hand away as he did so, and Erik's sharp hearing picked out a couple of words. "Raven... not going... bald..." He smiled sadly as he returned his attention to the road, glancing briefly in the rear-view mirror to see the headlights of Hank and Darwin's respective trucks. They were a little convoy of hunters going in search of others of their kind to go up against the big-bad soon and Erik was secretly terrified for Charles' safety. The Brit could hardly handle a shotgun, though he did have a cracking shot amusingly, and in hand-to-hand Erik was sure a three year could best him. And he was meant to go up against Shaw with Erik? No. If Erik had to tie Charles up and leave him in the trunk of the damned Impala just to keep him safe, then he would. Though, if he survived his meeting with Shaw, he doubted Charles would be happy with him.

The small walkie-talkie resting in the alcove of the door crackled to life and Erik quickly grabbed it. "What Hank?" He muttered into it as he glanced in the rear-view mirror again, his voice was low and deep, dark and frustrated because he didn't want to wake Charles yet.

"Darwin says he's managed to get in contact with two more hunters." Hank answered and Erik suppressed a growl as Charles shifted in his seat and curled up slightly. "Take the next right you come to and you'll come to the Hunter's Cavern at the end." Hank ordered before shutting of the walkie-talkie leaving Erik with a slumbering Brit and the insatiable urge to curse in a dozen different languages.

 

*** * * ***

 

Pulling up outside the Hunter's Cavern, Erik killed the engine and smiled as he looked over at Charles as the younger man slowly began to wake now the Impala was stationary. "Hey." Erik said softly, reaching out carefully with a hand and gently laying it on Charles' upper-arm, the touch light and easy to shake off should Charles choose to do so. "Wake up Charles."

Charles blinked slowly, his blue eyes blurred and dazed, as he looked over at Erik and then out the windscreen. "We there yet?" He slurred as he dragged himself upright in his seat and rubbed his eyes. The fact that Charles' hair was an absolute mess, his cheeks flushed and his body looked even smaller than usual made something in Erik twist and he smiled softly as he took in his friends apparel.

"Yeah, and I think Hank's coming over so you might want to reach def-con 3 pronto." Erik laughed quietly as Charles suddenly jerked forward in his seat and cursed. "Charming." He added as Charles threw a sharp glare at him before dragging his sluggish body out of the Impala before Hank could shout at him to.

"Come on you two." Hank called as he and Darwin stomped over towards the Hunter's Cavern. "We haven't got time to stand around waiting." He added and, when Charles was sure he wasn't looking, Charles childishly stuck his tongue out at the hunter and Erik suppressed a laugh. "And stop that, you ain't a five year old!"

"He's got eyes in the back of his head Charles, I told you." Erik laughed as Charles started in surprise. The hunter clapped Charles lightly on the shoulder before adding. "Come on, don't want to keep him waiting."

"Of course not." Charles muttered, sounding for all the world like a reprimanded child and Erik grinned as they set off for the Hunter's Cavern.

"So, Hank." Erik said as they caught up with the other two hunters. "These other hunters. What are they like?" He asked as Hank looked shiftily at Darwin who was suddenly busy with wiping his boots on the little mat on the porch. Erik frowned and tilted his head to the side slightly. "Hank?"

"You'll see." Hank answered tactfully before slipping inside the bar before Erik could demand an explanation. Darwin looked briefly at Charles and Erik before following after the other hunter. Erik huffed as he grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open, pausing in surprise as he peered into the near darkness of the bar.

Charles suppressed a smile because Darwin really should try to think quieter, and he glided past Erik into the semi-dark bar, knowing that Erik wouldn't hesitate to follow after him. Taking a look around the inside of the bar, Charles was surprised to note that it was empty save for seven people, including their little convoy.

"Where are these other hunters exactly?" Erik asked as he stepped up beside Charles and surveyed the furniture of the place. The lights were on low, the blinds on all the windows closed and there was a layer of smoke floating around the place; smoke that suspiciously reminded Erik of the jocks behind the bike sheds with their spliff's.

"You looking for hunters?" A voice echoed around the bar and Erik's gaze locked onto one of the three other people in the place. A tall, gangly person ambled towards them, crazed ginger hair blazing like a warning beacon and Erik raised an eyebrow in disbelief as his sharp eyes made out the person's features. He was a boy, a kid.

"Yeah, you know any?" Erik answered as he stared impassively at the teen who stopped just shy of Erik's reach. _'Not that dumb then'_ , he thought as he watched as the teen casually leant on the bar and he caught Charles' eye as he tilted his head to the side. _'Please tell me he's not-'_

"I'm a hunter." The teen said, staring at the four of them who raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously. I'm a hunter, so's Alex." He added as he jerked his head to indicate the slowly approaching other boy, child, teen. "I'm Sean Cassidy, pleased to meet you."

"Charles Xavier." Charles said, smiling as he stepped forward and held out a hand for the teen to shake. Sean stared at the Brit in surprise before smiling and clasping the outstretched hand lightly. "Nice to meet you Sean."

"And the same to you." Sean replied as he grinned and leant back against the bar and turned his head to look at the other teen, Alex. "Don't expect him to shake your hand; he's antisocial with a capital A."

"Oh, he'll get on splendidly with Erik then." Charles said lightly, ignoring the way Erik glared at him. "Well, I suppose we might as well get down to business and explain why we're here and all." He continued as he moved to sit on one of the bar stools, Erik following behind him like some sort of personal bodyguard.

"You're hunting?" Alex said quietly, his voice rough and raw – 'dangerous', Charles' mind supplied for him – and Charles looked over that the blonde teen, well he was over twenty-on but for Charles he still looked like a teen, even with that God awful scowl.

"Yes." Charles answered as Hank and Darwin sat down at the bar themselves. "We were wondering if you'd like to join us?" He added as he stared calmly at Alex, and he noticed how Sean quietly deferred to the blonde but it was interesting to note that Alex wasn't the one who had the ultimate say; he was just stubborn and suspicious.

"What are you hunting that needs six hunters?" Alex asked as he stood beside Sean and stared hard at the Brit who smiled grimly. Erik shifted on his feet and he couldn't help but cut-off Charles' answer before it had even began.

"A Demon that's planning on ending the world." Erik said shortly, his words clipped and strained. Alex and Sean both looked at him, Sean's face showing his surprise more clearly than Alex's, before looking at each other and sharing a silent conversation. Well, it would have been silent had it not been for the fact that Charles could hear the thoughts behind the looks.

' _Ending the world – like apocalypse style?'_

' _Is it worth our lives?'_

' _Should we?'_

' _Yeah'_

' _Sure'_

' _Yes! – God, it's like talking to my kid brother.'_

"Alright. We're in." Sean answered as he looked back at the Brit and smiled. "But if all goes to hell, I am so lighting a spliff while everything burns." Simultaneously Alex and Erik rolled their eyes as Sean's comment as Charles' smile widened and he inclined his head in acquiesce to the teens plan.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**6** _ _**th** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

"Why do we need another hunter exactly?" Sean piped up as he, Alex, Charles and Erik strode into the bar that was home to some leather-wearing, 'tough-guys' that even Charles could take out – though he might not play fair unlike Erik.

"The more of us there are the better chance we have at succeeding." Charles answered lightly as he almost flowed like liquid around a number of the punk-rocker style patrons of the bar. One of them looked him up and down speculatively but a quiet growl from Erik soon made them find great interest in other things. Though, Charles supposed, their sudden interest in their drinks could have had something to do with the fact that Erik's eyes held a dangerous and deadly edge to them, but Charles wasn't all that concerned with that.

They quietly made their way over to the bar, Alex and Sean wisely hanging back as Erik and Charles approached a lone man drinking hard liquor like it was water. They both leaned on the countertop, causally, on either side of the hunter and Charles smiled as he introduced himself. "My name's Charles Xavier."

"And I'm Erik Lehnsherr." Erik added as he looked briefly at Charles before focusing his attention on the hunter between them.

"Go fuck yourselves." The hunter said gruffly as he threw back another shot.

Charles looked up at Erik with a raised eyebrow and he smiled slightly as he thought at his friend. _'I don't think he'll be willing to help us'_ , and he blushed slightly as Erik mentally smirked at him.

' _I think I'm more concerned with his idea of "fucking ourselves"'_ , the hunter thought as he moved away from the bar and Charles fell into step with him. They walked back over towards Sean and Alex who obviously understood what had happened. In silence they left the bar and climbed back into the Impala.

As Erik pulled the car out of the parking lot and set off along the main road towards their motel he glanced sideways at Charles and purposefully thought. _'Maybe we should "go fuck each other" Charles?'_

Charles choked on the breath he had been in the process of taking and he stared at Erik who turned to look at the road, a smirk on his face as Charles blushed. _'Perhaps when the children are resting'_ , Charles thought back, and he added a couple of mental images along with the thought. Erik's eyelid shuttered rapidly as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

' _You are a cruel tease do you know that?'_ Erik thought back at Charles as the Brit smiled and laughed silently before settling back in his set.

' _You wouldn't have me any other way Erik and you know it'_ , Charles thought back and Erik found that he couldn't argue with him.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**9** _ _**th** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

"Listen up and pay attention." Erik said harshly, catching everyone's attention as he stood in front of his team, their team. The hunters all paused in their actions to look over at the tall hunter who stared at them with flint in his eyes.

Charles was stood beside him, looking quiet and solemn but no less determined, and if any of them looked in his eyes then they'd see that they were burning with emotion. _Power_. Alex and Sean were sat next to each other loading salt shells into a dozen shotguns, silently certain in their abilities but hyped up on nervous energy because they were going into battle. They were about to go out onto the front line of a war they'd only ever played a small part in, now they were going to fight for the entire planet. Charles could see the fear, the worry, the pain, the determination in their minds and their hearts, he could see how they were reassuring each other with small smiles, gentle looks, reaffirming words. Hank and Darwin were sitting separately, away from each other on opposite sides of the motel room they were gearing up in. Charles could sense how they were silently determined, their fear firmly capped and their anger, their passion and for Darwin his love, were burning brightly as they readied themselves for the battle that they realistically knew they might not survive.

"We are going to go into a battle, a fight, that none of you have to join us with." Charles said softly, but his words burned. "Erik and I are after Shaw who is leading this attack. Our intention to kill him and we may well die doing so."

There was silence in the motel room as five faces stared at him, Erik's openly showing his surprise and his conflicting emotions. Charles took a breath and continued, ignoring the way Erik's eyes bored into him. "You have a choice right now, and whatever you decide do know that you will not be judged for it. You can leave now and we will not stop you. Or you can stay and fight for, not only yourselves, but for everyone on the planet."

Charles paused and looked at Alex. "For your family."

He looked over at Sean. "For your friends."

He looked at Hank. "For your memories."

Darwin stared levelly at him. "For your freedom."

And slowly, Charles turned to look at Erik and he said, softly. "For your beliefs."

Erik gasped quietly, but the sound was so loud in the quiet of the room that it echoed in Charles' ears as he turned to look at the others again. "It is very likely that none of us will survive this battle. It's very likely that we may well fail and the world will fall. But, we owe it to ourselves and those we love, to _try_."

Staring at each of them in turn, bar Erik, Charles waited with baited breath as he heard their thoughts rolling around in their minds. He could clearly hear the doubt in Sean's mind, could clearly hear the fear _. 'I'm just a kid. What would happen to Alex if I died in this? What would happen to me if Alex died?'_ Charles swallowed thickly as he switched his attention to Alex's thoughts. _'Sean's a kid. He's like my brother dude... I can't let him do this, but I can't stop him either... fuck! I'll never forgive myself if I don't protect him.'_

Hank was silent, his thoughts boxed away and not openly broadcasting and Charles had no urge to pry into the man's mind, not when he already knew that Hank wouldn't back-out now. The man had lost a lot to the supernatural and Erik was like a cousin, a relative that he hadn't seen a lot of when he'd been younger but now was impossibly close to. He knew that Hank would follow Erik to Hell and back again because Erik was all he had to cling onto in this world. And Charles as well thanks to Erik.

Darwin was staring at the floor, his mind thinking back over darker times; times he'd rather forget but realised that he couldn't because they drove him to be who he was now. Memories of nameless faces, unknown places and dripping blood as he watched his own hands crush and rip and tear and break people. Memories of the Demon that had possessed him and used his body as one would operate a crane in a dock. _'I've already agreed to this knowing exactly what I was getting into... I'm not backing out now.'_

Alex looked up at Charles and slowly nodded, Sean joining him in his silent agreement and Charles felt a flare of pride rising in his stomach as he saw how these boys, men, were ready to go to war, to die because Charles had asked them to. It both amazed and sickened him knowing he had that level of power, he was the leader but sometimes even the leader needed to be lead.

Darwin looked at Hank who glanced at the other hunter. Something passed between them and Charles knew better than to pry as they both turned to look at him and nodded in agreement. Erik, Charles knew, had never even considered leaving to be a possibility. Erik's entire life had been building up to this point and Charles knew that nothing would dissuade the man from killing Shaw and if Charles were a better man, he might have tried to argue with Erik because Erik was a better man than that. But Charles wasn't a better man, he was what he was and Shaw had taken from him the one piece of humanity that he held in him that might have saved the Demon from Erik's wrath. Now, Charles wasn't sure if Erik would fire the killing shot of if it would be Charles himself.

And it should probably scare him, the knowledge that he could shoot a man, a victim just as much as he, who couldn't defend himself against Charles or Shaw possessing him. But it didn't scare him, because a part of Charles realised that the peace he'd known before hunting wasn't peace so much as the calm before the storm. There was no such thing as peace for hunters.

So there was no such thing as peace for Charles either.

 

*** * * ***

 

_**10** _ _**th** _ _**June 2011:** _

 

The bright shining sun was such a contrast to the pure evil that permeated the air around them that it made Charles want to wretch only he had nothing in his stomach to throw up. Standing next to Erik, the others a little way behind them, he stared into the distance, contemplating the iron tracks beneath their feet. It was strange to find the tracks out in the middle of nowhere, especially since Charles knew that no trains had ever really travelled along this route when they'd first been lain down. No, these tracks weren't for travel, they were to keep something in. Only a few feet to their right there was a metre long gap in the tracks, like someone had purposefully ripped them apart, and Charles knew that whatever the tracks were keeping locked up would be able to get out without any contest now.

"The Gate's still closed." Erik's voice filtered through the light breeze and Charles turned to look at the taller hunter, raising an eyebrow as he waited for more from his friend. "If it weren't we wouldn't have got this far. We're a main target for Shaw because he knows we're coming to kill him."

"He fears us." Charles said slowly as he returned his gaze to the open space before them, squinting slightly his eyes managed to pick out the clearing about two miles away from them. The clearing they were going to be heading for when Hank finished calling any hunters in the surrounding area and warning them that some baddies might be active in the area soon. They had a right to know what was coming in Charles' opinion but Erik had been right when he'd pointed out that the other hunters would panic knowing that Shaw was trying to kick-start the apocalypse. So Hank was feeding the nearby hunters some spiel about a witch's spell potentially going wrong and releasing a couple of Demons and such in the area.

"So he should." Erik commented as he slid his hand along his side to grip the handle of the Colt tightly. "We're going to kill him and he knows we'll do it." He added as he turned to look down at the Brit who continued to stare off into the distance. "I'm surprised you haven't tried to argue with me about this Charles."

"I don't think I could fight this even if I wanted to my friend." Charles sighed, refusing to look at Erik and see the questioning look on his friends face. "Perhaps when we first met I could have found it in me to argue against your plan, but now... now I don't _want_ to argue with you." Slowly Charles turned to pierce Erik with a heated stare. "Shaw is a Demon. A monstrous creation that was once a human soul but has been twisted and warped into something barely recognisable. There is nothing remotely human in him except hate, anger and darkness. Killing him is more of an act of kindness than anything else."

"An act of kindness for all the people whose lives he has yet to ruin." Erik intoned darkly and finally, finally, Charles turned to look at his friend. He took in the dark shadows beneath Erik's eyes. He took in how his friends entire frame was wrought with tension to the point where it looked like he might snap if he moved too suddenly. Reaching out Charles gently grasped Erik's hand in his own, lightly squeezing the appendage, and he smiled at the hunter with love in his eyes.

He didn't need to say anything because they didn't need words anymore. Not now. Words would only complicate things and Charles was so very tired of complications. So he smiled and held Erik's hand in his own, sending pulse after pulse of warmth, love and care to his friend until Erik's body relaxed and the darkness in his eyes faded and the light took its place.

 

*** * * ***

 

The Impala and Hank's truck slowly pulled to a halt just outside the graveyard, their engines dying as Erik and Hank cut them. Slowly the team climbed out of the cars, Alex and Sean darting about to secure a salt line around the vehicles to protect them from any supernatural attack, as Hank and Darwin gave them cover. Erik covered Charles' back at the Brit cast his mind out for any living souls, finding only an impenetrable wall of ice blocking his mind, and he drew in a quiet breath as he realised they were waiting for them.

Looking to Erik and nodding silently, the pair of them carefully set off in the direction of the gateway, Alex, Sean, Hank and Darwin bringing up the rear; all of them were armed with Shotguns, holy water and hole load of shells. It wasn't too long before they'd be needing them and they were all acutely aware of the fact that, eventually, they'd run out if they were unlucky. But it wouldn't do to be thinking about such things right now.

A few tense minutes later and they entered the clearing where the gateway was situated only to find it empty save for themselves. Frowning they all moved so they were covering each other's back against an attack from all sides and Charles found his attention focused entirely on the gateway. It was magnificent. Wrought iron worked into the building itself and Charles knew that Samuel Colt was the reason it was there in the first place, the creator of the Colt and the man who had set-up the train tracks in the beginning.

Glancing at Erik, Charles jerked his head towards the gateway, and Erik nodded to him before silently signalling to the other hunters to _stay there_. Carefully and silently, the two of them cautiously made their way over to the gateway and Charles ran a hand over the lock to it all, surprised at the design of it. Well, it almost looked as if...

"Yep Charlie-boy. The Colt's the key." A voice rang out in the clearing, dark and menacing, and with an undercurrent to it that Charles recognised. Spinning around, pressing his back against the gateway, and bringing his shotgun up Charles looked out into the clearing. Searching as Erik tightened his grip on his shotgun and stepped slightly so that he was in front of Charles.

Risking a glance over at the others Charles noticed how they were still grouped together, covering every angle like born professionals, and Charles felt a little calmer right up until the point that his eyes noticed a figure standing in the tree-line. A figure that Hank noticed too. Suddenly the clearing was filled with the sound of shotgun's firing and Erik's attention snapped onto the group, leaving him temporarily open to an attack. Before Charles could shout out a warning, Erik was thrown to the side, his head cracking against a tombstone hard enough to slice the skin of his forehead.

"Erik!" Charles cried out as he started to move towards his friend only to find himself thrown backwards onto the damp ground. The shotgun was snatched from his grasp and he watched as it was flung across the clearing leaving him completely unarmed save for the Holy Water in his back pocket. Scrambling backwards, Charles' back hit a tree and he used it to drag himself up to his feet.

Staring around him in fear Charles tried to find the owner of the voice that had haunted his dreams and nightmares for weeks. Distantly he noted that the others were battling against three Demons, firing shell after shell at them, but his focus was more on getting Erik to safety and killing Shaw. Though surviving this whole encounter was pretty high on his list of things-to-do.

Deciding to take a chance, one that he was sure Erik would murder him for at some point, Charles darted towards his friends still dazed form, reaching desperately for him, but before he could reach him something threw him backwards and his body collided painfully with the tree. He let out a little cry of pain as he felt himself pushed back impossibly hard against the tree, and the tips of his boots touched the ground. Charles knew that he was alone right now. Erik was still dazed, nearing unconsciousness, and the others were dealing with the other Demons. With a jolt that sent his heart off on a million-mile per second beat, Charles realised that this is what Shaw wanted.

"Smart boy Charlie-boy." The voice chuckled in his ear and, if he hadn't been pinned to the tree, Charles would have flinched. "I wanted to have another chat with you. No hands this time I promise." He added as Charles' eyes flashed with panic.

"I doubt we have much to discuss Shaw." Charles bit out, trying to ignore how he wanted to stutter and stammer out the name, he would not give this cowardly being the satisfaction. Not anymore.

"Well... maybe not what you think we want to discuss but I think it's only fair for you boys to know just how important you both are. Especially you Charlie-boy, though Erik's pretty special too." Shaw drawled as he smiled enthusiastically at Charles who tried to flinch away again. "Come on..." Shaw said softly, leaning close to Charles' face. "Don't tell me you're not curious." His eyes flickered over Charles' face, taking in the taught and tense features and how Charles' eyes were alight with emotions that contradicted each other at every turn.

"I'm not curious." Charles muttered, sarcasm and hatred dripping over every word as he glared at Shaw who tutted like a parent would with a child.

"Oh well... I'll be charitable to you Charlie-boy." Shaw said as he stepped back and turned to give Erik a brief go over with his gaze. "I guess you'll have to listen for Erik too since he seems a bit out of sorts." He commented as he returned his attention to Charles, smiling again.

Charles didn't respond, but he did watch Shaw's movements sharply and he noticed that Erik wasn't as 'out of sorts' as Shaw assumed. Immediately casting his mind out, as subtly as possible, Charles constructed a net around Erik, one that mislead whatever Shaw saw with his friend. It wasn't much and it wasn't powerful but as long as Shaw's attention was focused on Charles for the majority of the time, then Erik would be free to recover without being made into Demon-chow.

"First off, I suppose I could just show you – and whilst that would be fantastic just to see your face – I don't feel like being so dramatic." Shaw said as he idly picked at the nails on one of his hands. Looking up at Charles' face he smiled again and clapped his hands together. "Okay. The year is 1985, November 2nd and baby Erik is asleep in his crib when mommy comes in to close the window, only it's already closed. She's a bit suspicious, but pretty calm until she notices some sulphur on the window ledge – I do hate that particular trait of Demons, the sulphur's always the biggest give away in the game."

"Oh you have my empathy." Charles bit out and he squeezed his eyes shut as the invisible restraints on him tightened to the point where his chest felt like it was being crushed. As quickly as it began, it stopped and Charles was left taking in ragged breaths as Shaw tutted at him like a disappointed parent.

"Cheek isn't tolerated Charlie-boy. Didn't you mommy ever teach you manners?" Shaw said, his voice stern, before he smiled darkly and added. "Oh wait. Mommy hated you didn't she Charlie-boy? The boy who could hear her thoughts. The boy who was responsible for daddy's death."

"Shut up!" Charles shouted, pain and anger in his voice, as he tried to pull against the invisible restraints but Shaw chuckled darkly as they just wouldn't give. "Shut up you bastard!" Suddenly Charles' head was being pulled backwards until his skull hit the tree hard enough to shake the teeth in his mouth and he slumped, his body going completely limp but it didn't move as the force keeping him stuck to the tree refused to let him fall.

"Such language Charlie-boy. I should wash your mouth out with soap." Shaw tutted as he observed how Charles' eyes glittered with tears of pain, anger and frustration. "Anyway, back to the story!"

"So. Mommy figures out something's wrong and she's already interfered too much, and she owes a debt to pay. I can't have mommy skipping out on deals afterall, it'd be bad for business, so Erik's mommy finally pays her debt in full and as an extra bonus, her little baby grows up to be one of the best hunters in the business. All useful for me actually." Shaw said as he cast a brief glance behind him, noticing that Erik had hardly moved but he found Charles suddenly bursting back to life as the Brit began to pull on the restraints holding him place.

Returning his attention to the young man, Shaw smiled and he continued. "Now, that's Erik's story; or most of it. But you've got a story too Charlie-boy. And your old man was a resourceful fellow. He made a deal with me, just like Erik's mommy did but he wanted a son whilst Erik's mommy wanted a normal life. My price was their first born, six months after they were born, meaning both you and little old Erik over there." Shaw jerked his head to indicate Erik and Charles stared in disbelief at Shaw.

"You're lying." The Brit said, his words laced with anger and pain but there was doubt shining there because from what Charles knew of Demons and how they operated, they told the truth just to cause you pain; especially when the truth would be more painful than a lie. And by God was this painful.

"Believe what you like but haven't you ever wondered why you can do the things you can do Charlie-boy?" Shaw shrugged as he stepped close to the Brit. "You can read minds, manipulate thoughts, move things without touching them. And it all stems from one thing." Shaw paused dramatically and gently ran a sharp nail along Charles' face, cutting the skin and leaving a small trail of blood on his cheek. "Blood."

"You've got a little bit of me in your veins Charlie-boy, just like Erik." Shaw smiled softly, the most human look Charles had ever seen on the Demon's face, and he touched the nail with Charles' blood on it to his lips. "All part-and-parcel of the deal's made, and you're both so special because of them. Two of kind."

"Why are we so important to you?" Charles asked as stared at Shaw, his mind numbing slightly as it absorbed everything the Demon had said. He didn't want to understand it, but he had no choice as his the logical part of his brain analysed everything Shaw was saying and finding that he couldn't argue with it. It explained so bloody much. Everything even. And Charles hated it.

"Because I'm going to need a leader for my army. Someone special. Except I've realised that you two come together as a pair." Shaw answered as he smiled and waved a hand. "But you Charlie-boy. You're the really important one. You're going to be the leader of my army." He stepped up close to Charles again and smiled. "But Erik's going to help you 'cause you obviously need each other."

"But we don't need you, you son-of-a-bitch." A rough voice sounded behind Shaw and the Demon turned around, surprised as he took in the sight of Erik holding the Colt and pulling the trigger. Shaw could see the bullet racing towards him at faster than the speed of sound and he could see that he couldn't stop it as it ploughed into his scalp.

Charles stared in surprise as the Demon formally known as Shaw collapsed to the ground, dead, as his body was wrought with flashes of supernatural energy shorting out like electricity jumping a gap in the wiring. The sounds of the battle being fought by his team faded away into the background as Charles stared down at the body at his feet. He found himself free of the force pinning him to the tree but he ended up having to use the tree to support himself as he heard Erik stagger to his feet and he looked up just in time to see his friend aiming the Colt at one of the other Demons.

The trigger was pulled again and another bullet shot out of the chamber, zooming across the clearing and impacting against the chest of a suited Demon that had Hank on the floor. It shuddered to a stop, it's entire body jerking about like a marionette's puppet and then it fell. The two remaining Demons looked at their fallen comrade before looking over at Erik and they finally noticed that their leader had fallen. Before Erik could re-aim the weapon both of the Demon's suddenly spurted from the mouths of their possessed humans, twin torrents of black smoke billowing from the two meat suits and disappearing into the ground. Running away. Running back to Hell again.

Erik slowly staggers over to Charles, his movements uncoordinated and sluggish, and seeing his friend looking so vulnerable but being so stubbornly determined made Charles move forward to grasp Erik's arms and manoeuvre him until he was the one resting against the tree. Staring at Erik in wide-eyed disbelief and relief Charles couldn't help but smile widely at the hunter.

"My God Erik..." Charles breathed out, his words wavering as his voice hitched painfully, a well of emotions rising up and making his eyes water. He gripped Erik's forearm tightly as he pressed his head against the hunter's chest. "I was so _scared_ for you..."

'Charles', Erik thought quietly and Charles slowly raised his head. Looking up into Erik's still dazed and pained eyes Charles reached up and caressed his cheek with a hand. Erik leant into the touch for a moment before he leaned down slightly and captured Charles' mouth in a soft, gentle and loving kiss. A promise of a future. A promise of tomorrow. A promise of everything for him and it made Charles go weak at the knees as he finally realised. It was over. It was over. The battle was over and they'd won. They'd survived.

Erik was alive and so was he.

And for Charles, it felt about as close to peace as Charles expected himself to ever achieve. Amusingly enough, he found that he was perfectly alright with it as well.

 

*** * * ***

 

Originally published: July 4th, 2011 -- Completed, July 8th, 2011.

Added to AO3: June 17th, 2016

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... nearly five years. My writing _really_ hasn't changed all that much has it huh...


End file.
